The invention relates to rope, which term is intended to embrace elongate flexible products made of various different types of material and includes products sometimes known as wires or cables; and more specifically the invention relates to methods of joining two rope lengths together by splicing and to rope lengths so joined.
It is known to join two rope lengths together by a splicing method which comprises the step of unwinding, back to a predetermined point, each alternate one of the strands of one of the rope lengths, and then winding in its place one of the strands of the other rope length. At the point where this winding and unwinding process is terminated, there will, of course, be two loose strand ends, and it is known to deal with these loose ends by removing a short length of the center core strand at that point, and then to tuck the loose ends into the space previously occupied by this removed center core strand portion. This splicing method is unsatisfactory in that the strand ends cross over each other before entering the rope center. This distorts the rope at this point, and also gives the rope a greater diameter there, and it is in fact this point at which maximum, or at least increased, wear and wire breakage can take place.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide an improved method of splicing together two rope lengths.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved rope splice.